Elderly populations from developing countries represent two-thirds of the whole world's elderly population ; however very little is known respect their health and nutritional status.

Guatemala has a population of almost 10 million inhabitants, and approximately 6% is composed of persons over 60 y. The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the nutritional status and the body composition profile in a group of 234 Guatemalan elderly subjects ; and to document any differences between institutionalized (I) (n=174) and ambulatory free-living elderly subjects (FL) (n=60).

A total of 108 were male and 126 female.

The mean (± SD) ages of male and female were respectively, 78 ± 7 and 77 ± 8 y ; the I group tended to be older than to FL :

After adjusting for age, sex and setting, I younger elderly were fattier than their counterparts (FL) ; however, older FL groups differed only in having more weight and greater mid-arm muscle area compare...